Through Rivalry Comes Love

Chapter 61

"So what are you going to do?" Damon asked, sipping his coffee in his office. He was standing near the window, alternating his attention between his brother to the traffic outside.

Stefan sat in the chair on the other side of Damon's desk, spinning a pen between his fingers. It was a nervous habit of his to fidget like that. In answer to Damon's question, he just shrugged. Stefan was at a loss. "I don't know" he added. "I just know that I can't keep doing this."

Damon looked at his brother sympathetically. "I'm really sorry" Damon said sincerely. He hated seeing his brother so sad and hopeless.

Stefan tossed the pen on Damon's desk just as Elena came into the office. She practically ignored Stefan as she walked to Damon, opening a folder for him. "I just need your signature" she said, pointing on the document.

Damon signed the paper and gave her the pen back. "Thanks Elena" he said. He was really proud of her for signing another large account. She was on a roll lately.

Elena nodded and turned to leave, careful to avoid Stefan's eyes. Things had been tense lately and neither of them knew how to fix it. They had been married four years and the first three of those years had been incredible. They traveled, bought a house and continued to spend as much time together as they could.

"That was rough" Damon commented, being able to feel the tension the moment Elena had come into the room.

"It breaks my heart" Stefan said, sinking lower into his chair. Elena had been trying to get pregnant for a year and couldn't. When Elena had told him that she was ready to start trying, Stefan has been thrilled. As happy as he was with Elena, he wanted a child. And she had seemed pretty excited too.

But after a few months of trying, the disappointment set in. And after a year, they were starting to lose hope. And with that came a strain in their relationship. He had tried to be as supportive as he could be, but it seemed like one day a few months back, she had started to pull away. Like she didn't even want to try anymore because the hope of having a baby was no longer there.

So she threw herself into her work. They were still having sex, but it wasn't the same. Sex had become a chore to try and make a baby.

He hated it. He hated where they had gotten because he wasn't sure how to go back.

"Have you been to the doctor?" Damon asked. "To see if something is wrong?"

"We have an appointment tomorrow" Stefan answered. He was nervous as hell because he didn't want anything to be wrong. If it was Elena who couldn't get pregnant, it would destroy her. If it was him that had the issue, well, he'd be crushed. This wasn't supposed to happen. Everything up until that point had been perfect.

"They have that IVF and stuff" Damon reminded him. Fertility specialists had options for Stefan and Elena to try.

Stefan sighed deeply. "I don't know if I can watch her go through all of that" he said honestly. "Her having to give herself shots every day?" he asked. That sounded horrible.

"Of course you can" Damon told him. "We're talking about Elena here. You're going to do whatever you need to do to support her because you love her" Damon stated.

"And what if that doesn't work?" Stefan asked. "I don't know if we can handle any more disappointment" Stefan added.

"Then you look into other options" Damon answered. "You both are giving up. So stop" Damon added, sick of watching them both being so unhappy. "Everything is going to work out" Damon added, watching Stefan wince at his previous statement about giving up. Stefan didn't want to think of himself as giving up.